Swede

Swede — sometimes called rutabaga elsewhere in the world — is a hardy root vegetable with purple-tinged skin and yellow-orange flesh. It has a subtle sweetness and an earthy flavour that mellows and becomes buttery when cooked.

Swede is a staple of hearty cooking. It’s excellent roasted, mashed, added to soups and stews, or used in gratins. It pairs well with butter, cream, and warming spices like nutmeg. Mashed swede is a classic side dish alongside roast meats, and it’s a common addition to a traditional roast vegetable tray.

Swede grows well in cool climates and is available through autumn and winter in Australia, making it a reliable seasonal vegetable for cold-weather meals.

Farmed

photograph to come — from twenty years of markets, farms and kitchens

How it's made

Swede is a farmed root vegetable grown from seed in cool-climate conditions. The plants take several months to mature, developing a large bulbous root underground. At harvest, the roots are pulled or dug from the soil, the leafy tops are removed, and the thick outer skin is peeled away to reveal the edible flesh beneath.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Energy 22kcal

Protein 0.9g

Carbs 3.7g

Fat 0g

Fibre 2.2g Sugar 3.4g

Mass Distribution

What it costs the planet (per kilo)

Carbon ≈0.47kg

Freshwater ≈32.94L

Land ≈0.35m²

≈ Estimated — worked out from a category-typical value further up its supply chain. Where this comes from →

Where it comes from

Made from

Swede, root

In the kitchen

Used as

hearty root vegetable

Goes well with

carrot potato thyme butter onion

Classic dishes

Scotch Broth
Neeps and Tatties
Root Vegetable Mash
Lancashire Hotpot

Where this data comes from

Nutrition data from

FSANZ

How it was calculated

Analysed

Full credits, licences, and methods: the sources page →

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